I have been on hiatus, but I am back! I am working on a fresh new look with a new “home” (finally decided to get www.makeupbytess.ca) and a new “wardrobe” (WordPress.org noob). Who said websites can’t get a Spring make-over too?

Can’t wait for you to see what I have in store. But in the meantime, feel free to leave a comment below on what you would like to see, topics you would like to discuss, or just to simply say, “Hello”!

Exercising at least a few times a week is a must for healthy-looking skin! However, it is even more beneficial for your skin if you aren’t wearing any make-up whilst you exercise. Your pores enlarge as you get hot and sweaty and make-up can cause clogged pores resulting in potential break-outs and blackheads.

If you are always on the go and there is no time to wash your face, I suggest bringing make-up wipes in your gym bag. These will definitely come in handy both before and after your workout!

If you absolutely have to wear make-up at the gym (you never know who you’ll bump into, right?!), I would suggest wearing only eyeliner and mascara to help open and define your eyes. Your face will look naturally radiant and glowy after a great workout so you can leave your full-face of make-up for a special event.

I have to admit, if my exercise class is after work, I don’t remove my make-up. I leave on whatever I have left from the early morning. But to ensure I don’t walk out of the class looking like a raccoon after an intense, sweaty session, I wear waterproof eyeliner and mascara. My go-to products are Make-up Forever Aqua Black eyeliner and L’oreal Voluminous Waterproof mascara. This has definitely saved me from looking like a total mess when I got rained on during my outdoor bootcamp class! Also, tried, tested and true, the eyeliner stayed intact during my hot yoga class (and you all know how much sweat drips down your face in that class)!

One more thing! Don’t forget to wear SPF moisturizer (especially when you are exercising outdoors) and hydrate your lips with lip balm!

Happy exercising and keep it up for a healthy, beautiful-looking life! xoxox

Summer is almost over and I realized I gravitated towards the same shade of nail polish the last few months! My go-to nail polish colour this summer is in the assortment shades of coral.

Shades in the orangey-pink range such as coral, apricot, and peach compliment beautifully with all skin colours … especially with tanned skin! To jazz up my nails, I like to add a bit of nail art. My favourite this season has been nail art that helps give the illusion of elongated nails and fingers without actually having super long nails. Top on my list are the chevron nail and triangle. When pointed down towards the tip of your nails, it draws your eyes to the edge of your nails, which makes it look long and slender. I added a hint of pale pink as a lovely accent.

Maybelline New York Express Finish in “Peachy Petal (#60)”

Essie in “Ballet Slippers”

Many of you may know Dermalogica due to their infamous “Microfoliant”, a rice-based exfoliating powder that activates when mixed with water.

But nope, that’s not the product I’ll be talking about today! I have yet to experience that “amazing exfoliator” myself!

Some of you have mentioned to me that you had no idea Dermalogica has a foundation! Yup! They do! I had the opportunity to give their new foundation a try, Cover Tint SPF 20. This foundation replaced their previous foundation, Treatment Foundation.

Retails for $60 CAD

Cover Tint SPF 20 comes in three shades: light, medium, dark

Dermalogica claims this Cover Tint SPF 20:

provides long-lasting full coverage

helps protect against UV rays

softens fine lines

provides even coverage

is fragrance-free

My experience:

On me, I would say the coverage is a medium coverage. I currently have blemishes and scars and I found the foundation didn’t cover over them as easily.

I love how this foundation has SPF 20. Perfect for this spring and summer! Surprisingly, the foundation isn’t greasy with having SPF in it!

I don’t really have fine lines,but I applied it on my left hand which has some fine lines. It definitely smoothed my fine lines but it looked a tad dry. I think I should have moisturized my hand first.

This foundation does provide an even coverage. I use the medium shade and I find it blends in with my skin really well.

This has a very subtle scent that can be unnoticed. I’m not a fan of strong scents so I was extremely happy to know that this doesn’t have a strong sunscreen scent!

This my tired face on an early weekday morning! I can’t open my eyes! x_x

Additional observations:

When I first tried on this foundation, I had a fresh pimple that magically appeared the day before. I found that the foundation dried it up a bit which sort of made the swelling go down.

I love the squeeze bottle because it’s easy to control the amount. It comes in a 40 mL bottle which is bigger than most foundations. The packaging and size is perfect for travelling! 🙂

Even though there is SPF in the formulation, I forget I’m wearing foundation throughout the day. The foundation isn’t sticky, greasy, or oily. It feels very lightweight on the skin.

I tend to get an oily t-zone throughout the day and I found this foundation left my skin matte most of the day — longer than other foundations I have tried and it doesn’t oxidize (turn orange) throughout the day.

Conclusion:Would I recommend this product? Definitely. I’m a huge fan of foundation with SPF to wear on a daily basis (not for photo shoots or weddings due to the white cast that would appear in photos). I was highly impressed with the matte finish and lightweight feel throughout the day. Although it didn’t cover my blemishes as much as I expected it to with it being “full coverage”, I don’t mind because that’s what concealer is for!

I heard Cover Tint is great when paired up with Dermalogica’s SkinPerfect Primer SPF 30. Can’t wait to try this next!

Okay, maybe Spring isn’t in the air just yet, but it is on my nails! 🙂(Side note: Why is it so cold this mid-April?)

This Revlon nail polish in Allure is such a beautiful colour for Spring. It’s a very soft pink with a tiny bit of shimmer in it. To get the perfect application, I had to apply three coats. But I don’t mind because the finish is so pretty!

I was a maid-of-honour for my friend’s wedding and this was my go-to colour for the Big Day. Two of the other ladies in the bridal party wore it too… that’s how awesome the colour is. 😀

I know Fall is in the air and the most typical thing to do is retire the bright colours for the year.

If you are like me … you just don’t have the heart to do it!I just can’t steer away from the brights … well, for now anyway!

Hmmm … maybe I’m still in denial that the summer is officially over?

Although it’s getting quite cold in my city, summer is still alive on my nails! Coral has been one of my fave shades!

Maybelline Express Finish in Peachy Petal

I purchased this nail polish at the L’Oreal warehouse sale for $3.00: [Click to see haul].

I’m trying to find the perfect shade of coral for my wedding colour and when I saw this, I fell in love!

This is my first time trying out Maybelline Express Finish. Here is my first impression:

It dries more vibrant in colour than what you see in the bottle (might be hard to tell in the photos)

Your nails definitely dry under a minute but I found it might just be the top layer. I painted my nails late at night. I touched them before I slept and it felt dry. But when I woke up in the morning I had light line indentations on some of my nails. It could’ve been worse with other nail polish brands as I’ve experienced. (For some reason I always paint my nails before going to sleep lol).

It applies pretty pigmented. I applied two coats.

It’s been five days since I have applied my nail polish. I have a tiny chip on my right pointer finger and all the other fingers look freshly painted still.

*A base coat was applied with this application. No top coat was applied.

I would definitely wear this polish brand and colour again!

How about you? Are you stuck in the Summer vibes still or has Fall won you over already? 😛

They sell beauty lines such as L’Oreal, Maybelline, Lancome, Essie, Biotherm, Pureology, Ralph Lauren, Garnier, and many more … at a discounted price.

As I’m saving money for IMATS (International Make-up Trade Show) that will happen this November, I went to this sale with the mind-set of not spending a lot.

I think I acheived that! 😀

This is what I purchased:

L’Oreal Glam Bronze bronzer in 01 Soleil Doré – $6.75

Maybelline Express Finish nail polish in Peachy Petal – $3

Maybelline Express Finish nail polish in Tulip Tango– $3

Maybelline Color Sensational Lip Gloss in 065 Hooked on Pink – $3

Pretty good, huh? 🙂

As I was walking around, there were some products that were an awesome deal and others that were the same price (or maybe a tad bit more expensive) than if it were on sale at a drug store (Wal-mart, Shopper’s Drugmart, etc.). So when you go to sales like this, don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s a “warehouse sale”. Pay attention to the prices! 🙂

Mother Nature is teasing us with days of warm weather when we should be in the coldest part of winter right now.

I’m not complaining though. It’s just a bit of a tease because their have been a few days lately where I would be leaving my office, with the sun still shining and the warm air hitting my face while breathing in the fragrance of cookies (I work near a cookie factory! nom nom nom) and have a HUGE smile on my face. I would probably skip to my car if I wasn’t shy, but then I’d look craaaazy! LOL

This was not the case today. Although the sun was still out when I left work (yay!), it was a typical winter day —- freeeezing cold (and I didn’t smell any cookies! lol).

I spoke too soon. I thought Spring was coming sooner than later.

From a draining day at work, my day brightened up when I came home to a package. What was in it? Some of L’Oreal’s Spring 2012 products! [happy dance]

This is just as good as warm weather in winter!

I already got a taste of their products when I attended their Le Wow Festive Party at the end of 2011 where they had different stations to showcase their new products. We were able to test the products and ask questions to the L’Oreal team themselves. It was a wonderful night and it ended off well with a gift bag of some of the new products (with one of my favs — Colour Riche Le Balm in Rose Elixir!!).

In the package I received today it included some of the products we did not get to try in our gift bag:

On Sunday, January 29th 2012, I had the opportunity to be one of the make-up artists for the Miss Teen Canada World Pageant.

It was such a great experience to see what goes on behind the scenes of a pageant.From dress rehearsals to make-up to hair, back to rehearsing, etc., it was a long but exciting day for them. For most girls, it was their first time being in a pageant.

Here are the before and after photos of the contestants I put make-up on: